Did you get hauled up by the class monitor for dirty shoes?
Standard black shoes for “regular” school days (read non-sports and rainy days), white canvas shoes for the sports days and rainy shoes (there were the ones who wore the more functional plastic sandals and there were the snooty kids who wore the big rubber gumboots). Footwear would be bought before school re-opened, of course, and there was an air of excitement as we waited for the shopping day to arrive. They came in all types and sizes. Regular and rainy. Canvas and black. They were a constant source of punishment for us, we had to keep them clean to stay…